Water hyacinth menace in Lake Victoria

Water hyacinth, scientifically known as Eichhornia crassipes, is an aquatic weed with several broad leaves and inflated leaf stalks, which belongs to the family Pontederiacease.

It is considered one of the world's worst aquatic weeds because of its ability to rapidly spread over and infest a wide variety of wetlands including ponds, rivers, dams, lakes and irrigation channels. Research has found that these weeds can double their mass in six to 15 days.